Explaining the differences between all and whole

All and whole - a guide with examples

   Sometimes one can choose either of them; but there are major differences in their usage, and all and whole are not always interchangeable.

• All can be used with nouns or pronouns, in the singular or the plural .
• Whole is essentially used with nouns in the singular. It is occasionally used as a descriptive adjective with nouns in the plural, and cannot normally be used with pronouns..

Page Index :	All with singular nouns	All with plural nouns
All and pronouns	All as an adverb	Uses of whole

All

All implies a complete number or total entity. An incomplete number or entity can be expressed using the negative form of all, which is not all.

1. All +singular noun.

There are two possible structures.

1.1.  The most common is  {all + determiner + noun}.

Determiners that can be used in this structure are the definite article the, demonstrative adjectives (this, that), possessive adjectives ( my, your, etc.), possessive forms of the noun (Peter's, the man's, etc.).

  When the group {all + determiner + noun} is the subject of a statement, the verb is normally in the singular. However, when the noun in the group is a collective noun referring to multiple people, such as team, committee, school, or family, the verb is generally in the plural (examples 3,4 and 5) in British English.

1.2. Less common {all + noun}

This structure is much less common as it can only be used with non-count or uncountable nouns (such as water, oxygen, philosophy). The article must be omitted when the non-count noun is used as an open generalisation. 

2. All with plural nouns

Plural nouns are by definition count nouns, so the situation is less complicated. As in the singular, there are two structures, with or without a determiner., i.e.  {all + determiner + noun} and {all + noun}
   Whether to use a determiner or not depends on the context, and follows exactly the normal rules for count nouns in the plural. It depends if the noun is being used as an open generalisation (no determiner), examples 1 - 5,  or as a limited generalisation (with determiner), examples 6 - 10.

  

3. All with pronouns

All can either qualify a pronoun (as in You all) , or can be used on its own as an indefinite pronoun.

3.1. All qualifying a pronoun

With pronouns, how all is used depends on whether it comes in front of the pronoun or after it.  

• When all qualifies a subject pronoun,  the pronoun and all normally stand together except with copular verbs such as to be; i.e. one can say  They are all home......  but not They went all home.
• The simple structure {pronoun + all }  can be used with subject pronouns or object pronouns as in they all.... or them all.

• Note that even when part of the subject, the pronoun is always in the object form.    
    i.e. we must say all of us / them - never all of we / they),

Compare examples 1 - 5 with examples 8 - 12. Additionally, all can qualify the singular pronoun it, using the same structures

3.2. All as a pronoun

All is sometimes used by itself, as an indefinite pronoun, meaning everything or everyone. This mostly occurs as the subject of a sentence, though very occasionally after a preposition.

5. All as an adverb

Occasionally, all is used as an adverb, qualifying an adjective, with the meaning of completely (examples 1 & 2) , or qualifying a preposition such as through or over (examples 3 - 5).

  

Whole - quantifier or adjective or noun

Whole as a quantifier

Whole as a quantifier can  only be used with singular nouns, either singular count nouns or singular non-count nouns. It is used exactly like a normal adjective, in the structures:
Whole has a similar  meaning to all, though the structures are different.  
   However, by using the whole one stresses the unity of an entity, not its multiple components. Thus when the subject of a sentence is a collective noun implying multiple people , such as team, committee, school, or family, qualified by whole, the verb is  normally in the singular  (examples 5 - 6).  In British English, it can occasionally be used in the singular, as in example 7.

Whole as an adjective

Occasionally, whole functions as a descriptive adjective, a synonym of entire or complete. In this function, it can qualify plural nouns

Whole as a noun

Finally, whole is also sometimes as a noun, notably with the indefinite article, a whole, meaning a complete unit, or in the expression the whole of (notably with place names) and in the expression "on the whole", meaning generally speaking. There is one common expression where it is used with a pronoun: the whole of it.


Going further: All and whole are among the tricky common English words explained with even more pertinent examples in Problem words in English (Ebook or paperback) . 


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